Meeting Abstract
Understanding the contributions of phenotypic plasticity in adaptive evolution is a major goal in evolutionary biology. Since their recent introduction to the Americas, house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) have rapidly adapted to diverse habitats and climatic regimes. Mice inhabiting temperate regions have evolved larger body sizes, smaller ears, and shorter tails compared to mice in tropical regions. Phenotypic plasticity has likely played a major role in the house mouse’s ability to rapidly adapt to these novel environments, yet, this hypothesis remains largely unexplored. To test this hypothesis, we reared wild-derived inbred populations of house mice collected from temperate (New York and Canada) and tropical (Brazil) environments in both a warm (21C°) and cold (4C°) environment. Following acclimation, we assessed the degree of plasticity in body size, tail length, nest-building, and mitochondrial metabolism. This design allows us to determine if the potential for adaptive plasticity differs with population and test the prediction that phenotypic plasticity following acclimation will mirror the evolved differences observed between temperate and tropical populations. Overall, our results reveal how plasticity evolves among populations adapted to different climates and shed light on how plasticity may have contributed to the house mouse’s rapid colonization of such disparate environments.
